Bare Branches
by Nixesii
Summary: After everything that happened with Annie, Eren still has deep feelings for her. Though, once she turns into a crystal, that is all changed. He tries his best to forget her and his feelings for her. Throughout the battles, hardships, and death, Levi and Eren develop a deep connection. What will happen with that connect? Will they finally find... Love?


**Nix - Hello everyone, this is my first ever fanfic so please excuse all of the spelling/punctuation errors. Or well… Any errors in general. o3o"**

 **Levi- She will never use correct spelling/punctuation.**

 **Nix - Oh shush, Levi. T-T Also, I don't own SNK/AOT.**

Eren stood in front of a huge crystal, the form of a body inside. Hange stood next to him, her hand on her chin.

It's been 6 months since everything that happened. After Annie went into the crystal form, they brought her to the dungeon. The Survey Corps, well the more elite ones, all live in the house above the dungeon. We moved here to get away from everyone else, only bringing a select few here. The people here are: Eren, Levi, Armin, Mikasa, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Hange, and Erwin. Though, Erwin lives in a separate house from all of the rest.

"I still can't believe this all happened," Hange said, her voice more serious then it usually is.

Eren glanced over at her, his turquoise eyes gleaming in the dim dungeon light. The only light was coming from the stairway and a small torch that was pinned to the wall.

"Me either..." Eren groaned. "Why, Annie? I wish we could ask her."

"I'm sure she has her own reasons," Hange stated.

"Well, I will make her pay for all she has done," a voice growled from behind Eren.

Eren turned, seeing Levi standing on the last step of the stairs. His black hair seemed messier then usual and, as usual, his face held no expression.

"Well, I'm going to go on and head to bed. Goodnight you two~" Hange yawned and winked at them, waving one hand at them and then stepping past Levi, going up the stairs. Levi then looked towards Eren and then at the crystallized Annie. He shook his head and then turned, walking back up the stairs.

Eren turned his head, looking at the crystallized Annie. He shook his head and sighed. He then turned and slowly walked to the stairs. 'Don't look back' Eren thought before he walked up the stairs.

The staircase came out into a big kitchen. The kitchen was like any other kitchen, with a big table in the middle of it. To the left of the staircase was an arch doorway that went into the living room. Across from the staircase, on the other side of the kitchen, was a hallway.

He walked past the kitchen table and to the hallway. There was a few pictures hanging on the wall but none were significant to him. He then came to a few doors, 2 on one side of the hallway and 2 on the other. The first door on the left was Connie's room and the one next to it was Jean's. Across from Connie's was Sasha's and across from Jean's was Hange's. Just past Hange's room there was another staircase that leads up to the second floor. There was also another arch at the end of the hall on the right that led to another room, as well as a door across from that which led to the bathroom.

Eren turned and walked up the staircase, coming to a big room. There were a few chairs and a rug in the middle. On the right wall there was a door, which was Mikasa's room and on the left wall there was another door, which is Armin's room. He walked past the living area and up to another open area. The area didn't have much in it but there was a big couch window, a window that had a seating area built in under it. His room was to the right of this, while Levi's was across from his.

Eren saw Levi sitting on the seating area under the window. He was staring out into the night sky. Eren could see the moon shining high up in the sky, illuminating the towns. The buildings below were out of Eren's view, as he wasn't close enough to the window.

He then turned, opening the door to his room and walking in. His room was rather big. Straight in front of the door, on the other side of the room, was his closet. His bed was up against the right wall. At the foot of the bed there was a small chest which had a small lock on it. The only person with the key was Eren. On the left side of the room there was a desk that sat under another big window. A few papers were scattered on the desk, along with his green Survey Corps cloak. There was also a small dresser on the left side of the desk.

He closes the door behind him and pulls off his brown jacket and white shirt. He lays the brown jacket on the desk chair while the white shirt falls to the floor. He then walks to the dresser, opening one of the drawers. He grabs his night shirt as well a a pair of shorts. He slips the night shirt on and then changes his pants.

Eren crawls into bed, staring up at the ceiling. His mind flashes back to the time before all of this more.. relaxing time.

Pictures of his fight with Annie flash into his mind. Most of that time was a blur for him. He remembers clearly not being able to kill her, which caused her to go into her crystal form. Ever since then, the group of friends have lived here. His mind rolls to his time here, thinking it over. Levi has been their leader for the whole time, same with Erwin. They cleared out the Trost district and eventually settled here. Builder's came and built the town back. It is now very populated, but work has still to be done.

Eren lays on his back and closes his eyes, trying to drift to sleep.

...

It's been a few hours since Eren first got into bed, he still hasn't been able to sleep. He tossed and turned all night, not catching a hint of sleep.

He sits up and gets out of bed. He knows where he needs to go.

Eren walks to the door and opens it, leaving the room. He glanced over to the window seat, remembering Levi sitting there only two hours earlier. He then continues past the living area and down the stairs. He is careful to be quiet and not wake the others as he passes their rooms and enters the kitchen. He quickly walks past the kitchen table and to the staircase down to the basement.

He walks down the stairs and come to the large room that Annie is being kept in. As his eyes adjust to the gloom, he slowly walks up to the crystal. He places one of his hands on the crystal, feeling it's cold, jagged edges.

"Annie.." Eren mutters under his breath. He stares at the girl inside of the crystal, tears stinging his eyes. "Oh, Annie, Why? Why did this have to happen? What went wrong?" Eren squeezes his eyes shut, holding back his tears.

His eyes then flash open and he punches the crystal in his rage. Pain flashes through his whole hand and up his arm, but he doesn't care. Tears stream down his cheeks and he collapses down to his knees in front of the crystal. His head hangs low and his now injured hand hangs limping at his side. He closes his eyes but a few tears still escape his closed eyes.

"Well, that was quite a show," Levi's voice sounds from behind him.

Eren opens his eyes but doesn't turn around. "Why are you here," he says, trying to hide the fact that he was crying.

"Why not?"

Eren lifts one hand and wipes the tears away then looks back at Levi. He's standing against the wall with one of his legs propped up and foot on the wall, his arms are also crossed. His dull, blue eyes were staring at Eren. His face seemed to hold no expression as he looked at Eren. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know you are upset," Levi huffed. Levi drops his foot from the wall and slowly walks over to stand by Eren. He looks down at Eren, his dull eyes emotionless. "If you want to kill Titans, you must let go of all feelings. You should know that by now, brat."

"Yeah, I know," Eren murmurs and looks back at the crystal. How can he give up his feelings? He...

Images of Annie pop into his head. The time when she taught him to fight specifically comes into mind. He shakes his head and then looks back up to Levi to see him staring down at him, a soft hint of interest in his eyes. "How do you deal with it?"

Levi looks away from Eren, seeming to be taken aback by the question. The Captain runs his hand through his hair and then looks back at Eren with a fire in his eyes. "By staying alive for them."

"I mean.. How did you deal with losing her..."

"I haven't dealt with it." Levi glances towards the crystal. "There was no real way I could. She.." His eyes close and Eren can tell he is upset. Eren stands up and gently places his hand on Levi's shoulder. He can feel Levi cringe under his hand but doesn't move. "I couldn't protect her. In fact, I couldn't protect anyone. I'm weak."

Eren shakes his head. "That is not true, you are the strongest person I know. I'm not talking about your fighting skills, just you," Eren says, his eyes shine in the dim light.

"Everyone seems to think that." Levi shakes his head.

Eren nods and then his hand falls off of Levi's shoulder, as well as hearing Levi's footsteps slowly disappearing. He looks back towards the staircase just as Levi's shadow disappears. He sighs lightly and presses one hand on the crystal. "Annie.. Goodbye." Eren turns around, walking out of the big dungeon room and up the staircase. He wipes away the few lingering tears and heads back towards his room.

...

"Wake up you idiot!" A sharp voice echoes into Eren's mind. He opens his eyes, seeing Levi standing above him with his usual expressionless face. "We are coming up with what we need to do about the Titans inside of the Wall Maria." Levi turns back around and heads for the doorway. He turns his head, his eyes fierce. "Also, have you seen this room? Clean it!" He then walks out of the room.

Eren groans and sits up. He swings his feet off the bed and stands up, taking his shirt off in the process. He goes to the dresser and gets a white shirt out of one of the drawers. He slips it on and stuffs his night shirt back into the drawer. He also grabs a pair of pants out of the drawer and changes into those. Eren closes the drawer and grabs his brown jacket off of the desk chair, slipping it on.

He gazes at the messy desk. "Clean it.." He lets out a small laugh. "Tch, Levi."

Eren turns and walks out of his room, closing the door behind him, and heads down to the kitchen.

As Eren enters the kitchen he can already hear the loud chatting of everyone there. Most of them are sitting at the table or standing around in the kitchen. Mikasa is leaning against one of the counters while Armin is next to her. Jean, Connie, and Sasha all sit at the table. Levi is leaning against the wall right outside from where the hall comes out from and Hange is standing next to the staircase downstairs.

"Good morning, Eren," Mikasa says as she spots him.

He nods to her. "Good morning." Eren walks into the kitchen but he can't help but notice Levi looking at him from the corner of his eye. He gives a slight nod to Levi and then looks around the room. Sasha is chowing down on a piece of bread while Jean and Connie talk next to her.

"Alright, let's start this," Levi says and walks over to the end of the table. Hange walks up and takes a seat next to Jean while Mikasa and Armin stay where they were.

Eren walks up to the table, on Levi's left side. He crosses his arms over his chest as he waits for the meeting to start.

"In a few days we will soon start the expedition of gaining Wall Maria back. It will be a big expedition and a lot of us may get injured or even perish." Eren saw Levi glance around the room, studying each of his companions faces. "The Military Police will also help us with this mission as well."

"Is this just like any other mission? Take out all the Titan's we can without dying?" Jean asked.

"But people always die!" Connie burst out, worry and anguish written all over his face. "What if one of us dies?"

Eren glanced at Levi, seeing the Captain's eyes seem unfocused but his face was as expressionless as usual. "We all have to be ready to die and/or give up a friend for the sake of humanity. I thought you all knew that. If you want to worry about all of this then just drop out and leave." Levi's eyes turned fierce and he leaned down, looking straight at Connie. "There are things you can't stop from happening and if you are afraid, then just leave."

Connie nodded and turned his head away from Levi, glancing at Sasha. Eren noticed the small exchange the two give and then they continue listening.

"We will go over Wall Rose while the Military Police go through the gate. The gate can only be open a very short time so they don't want to have too many people holding the gate from closing. Once we get outside of Wall Rose and to the surrounding outside, we must be ready to die for the sake of our cause." Levi lifted his head and then continued. "Fight with all our might."

"Yeah!" A few of the yelled. Eren watched as Hange, Sasha, Jean, and Connie all stood up. Everyone in the room saluted to Levi, including Eren.

Levi seemed taken aback by the gesture, but he nodded to them all, failing to hide the amused glint in his eyes.

 **Nix- Sorry for the rather short and boring chapter. xD**

 **Armin- Oh, It's fine Nix! We know that it's the first chapter so you have to introduce everything.**

 **Eren- Don't forget to Review!**

 **Nix- Yes! Thank you for reminding me of that, Eren. Please Review. 3**


End file.
